I have been watching Pilot ball for a number of years. While you can quibble about individual players, it appears clear that Reveno has consistently recruited talented big men better than his predecessors have. Beginning with Smeulders until the announcement of van der Mars yesterday, the Pilots have had a capable big man since Reveno was able to get his own recruits on campus. I do not think we had as much heft or talent up front on Holton's teams, and it often cost us in the paint.

The ability of recent players at center and power forward has to be a reason Reveno has done what the three coaches before him could not: win consistently. It also appears that Reveno has focused on recruiting capable big men and that he does an effective job of conveying to prospects that they will be well trained and coached if they don a Pilot uniform--his own history as a power forward may have something to do with it.

Next year's starting lineup:

Center: van der Mars/Barker--we will see how the battle is resolved.Power Forward; Cason--given what I hear he seems the most likely starter, but Bailey has had a year under his belt--maybe van der mars/Barker swing between both positions.Small Forward: Kevin Bailey--with those credentials hard to believe anyone beats him out for the spot.Shooting Guard--no discussion needed: Mitrovic.Point: same-Douglas.

Can this team win 20 again? Reflect on the fact that the question is a rational one now, notwithstanding the many years of losing Pilot teams. Reveno has done an outstanding job.

Center: van der Mars/Barker--we will see how the battle is resolved.Power Forward; Cason--given what I hear he seems the most likely starter, but Bailey has had a year under his belt--maybe van der mars/Barker swing between both positions.Small Forward: Kevin Bailey--with those credentials hard to believe anyone beats him out for the spot.Shooting Guard--no discussion needed: Mitrovic.Point: same-Douglas.

Ah, isn't it fun to talk Pilot basketball?!?

I wouldn't count out Nicholas in the PF discussion. He proved himself capable of giving the team a lift over the last few weeks of the season, and you can never question his energy. He's got nice range on his jumpshot and he can burn teams on put-backs and hustle points. He's probably best-suited to being a sixth man and providing some energy and offense off the bench, but going into next year I would think he has the leg up over Cason and Bailey just due to experience. Of course, Cason could come in and blow the doors off of the Chiles Center, but the transition to D1 can be tough to navigate, especially early on.

And Tanner Riley is definitely in the mix for the SF/SG spot too. He's incredibly streaky, but when he's on... there might be no one on the team who can score in bunches like he can. Obviously he's got a lot of work to put in, but I'm counting on him to be a nice piece for next year's team.

There is no doubt that lastyears recruits, along with the four that have signed for the coming season have the potential to lift the Pilots up to a level thast we are not use to. It will be a very young team the coming season so it may take another year but figuring that we should recruit a good class next year with only two openings it can get even stronger.Rev has done an outstanding job in bringing stronger players to PortlandAlso there should be a stronger bench which give him more options